Automatic card shuffler and dealer



Nov. 1, 1932. R. c. MGKAY, 1,885,276

AUTOMATIC CARD SHUFFLER AND DEALER Filed Jan. 22, 19:51 3 She'ets-Sheet'1' MW MII 42 IL Alllh INVENTOR Nov. 1, 1932.

c. M KAY AUTOMATIC CARD SHUFFLER AND DEALER 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan.22, 1951 INVENTOR Patented Nov. 1, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Iorr, MassAoHu'sErrs AUTOMATIC CARD SHUFFLER AND DEALER Application filedJanuary 22,- 1931. Serial No, 510,365.

This invention relates to apparatus for shufliing articles and dealingthem indiscriminately. It will be herein disclosed as embodied'in amachine designed particularly for shufliing and dealing playing cards.

1 In playing various card games it is-necessary to shuflie the cards inthe pack and then to deal the hands to the players. A fair deal requiresa very thorough shufiiing of the cards. It is an important object of thepresent invention to devise a machine or apparatus for performing thefunction of shufliing the cards and dealing them indiscriminately V toprovide the desired number of hands.

While the invention will be herein disclosed as embodied in a machinedesigned especially for shufliing a pack of cards and dea ing the packinto four hands, it will be evident that minor modifications only wouldbe re uired to adapt the machine for dealing a di erent number of hands,and that essentially the same principles could also be used in shufliingand-dealing other articles. 7 The nature of the invention will bereadily understood from the following description when read inconnectionwith the accompanying drawings, and the novel features will'beparticularly pointed out in the appended claims. In describing myinvention in detail, reference will be had to the accompanying drawingswherein like charactersdenote like or corresponding parts throughout theseveral views and in which: t

Figure 1 is a perspective view\of the device with the casing lifted offto disclose the mechanism;

Figure 2 is a plan view;

Figure 3 is a side view; I

line 44 of Figure F igur .4 i

5-5 bi Fig- 40 s a section on 2; and

Figure 5 is a section on line ure 2.

Preliminary to a detailed description of the a machine shown in thedrawings, it may be stated that the machine comprises a container ormagazines for holding a pack of cards, mechanism for feeding the cardsone at a time out of the magazine, sorting mechanism for, distributingthe cards to divide the entire pack into four hands, selectors whichcontrol the sorting operation, and means for selecting or choosing theselectors indiscriminately. In this particular machine one selector isprovided for each card and the selectors are divided into four groups,the individuals of each group differing from those of the other groups.Since the selectors which control the sorting of the successive cardsare chosen indiscriminately, the final distribution of the cards is madeindiscriminately and is determined simply by chance.

The device comprises a container or magazine 1 for holding a pack ofcards, consisting of a rectangular box with one side open for theinsertion of the cards. The bottom inclines slightlydownward toward thefront and is slotted to permit the rubber tired wheels 2 and 3 to enterand push the bottom card forward. In line with the slots 44 and 45 aretwo beads 46 and 47 designed to place the most friction where the movingforce is being applied. The front of the container has a horizontal slot48 with two fingers 49 and 50 extending downward opgosite the beading onthe bottom, leaving a istanoe less than the width of two cardsbetweenthe fingers and the heading so not more than one card can beforced out of the container at one time. The eover 4 fits inside thewalls of the container and is of sufficient weight to :1 ply a constantpressure on the cards. The ottom of the cover is also beaded tocorrespond to the bottom of the container.

. The rubber tired wheels 2 and 3 rotate on a shaft in the frame 5 whichis pivoted on the main shaft 6 and held with the wheels pressing upwardby coil spring 7 attached to a prolongationof one side of the frame overthe shaft 6. The frame is pulled downward, bringing the rubber tiredwheels out of contact with the cards by the earn 8 forcing down thelever 9 which is attached to arm 10 of frame 5. The cam 8 is arranged soit will allow the frame 5 to return and permit the rubber tired wheelsto force out one card at each revolution of the shaft 6 unless stoppedby the failure of a ball to come out of the hopper, as will be explainedlater. The shaft holding the rubber tired wheels 2 and 3 is rotated bygears 11 and A series of fifty-two balls is provided divided into foursets of different sizes with thirteen of each size. The halls arecontained in the hoppers13 and 14 which are fastened together by acircular casing fitting over the circular casing 15vvghich surrounds thewheel 16. The casing 15 has a slot to admit the arm 17 of lever 18. Thisarm normally rests in a. groove 51 in wheel 16. This casing 15 also hasa chute 19 open at the top which corresponds with'a similar opening inthe hoppers 13 and 14 and permits the balls to fall out of the upperhopper 13 and rest on the wheel 16. As the wheel 16 is rotated, a ballfalls into the indentation of the wheel and is forced out through anopening in the chute under arm 17 of lever 18. This lever operates toprevent more than one ball being delivered at each turn of the wheel 16.It should also be noted that the diameter of the balls is so arrangedthatthe largest ball is less than twice the diameter of the smallestball and that the indentation in wheel 16 is of a size to admit thelargest ball/but not large enough to allow two of-the smallest balls tolie side by side in the bottom of the indentation and so pass out at onerevolution of the wheel 16. Having passed under the arm 17, the ballfalls into the lower hopper 14 through an opening in the bottom of casln'15. After all the balls have been carried out of hopper 13, theposition of the hoppers can be reversed by turning the hoppers half wayaround, which brings hopper 14, containing all the balls, on top.

As a'ball is forced out under arm 17 of lever 18," lever 18 is raised toa height corresponding to the size of the ball delivered and the latch20 catches in the notch at the end of lever 18 and holdsit insubstantially the position to which it has been moved by the ball. Theraising of lever 18 by the-ball also moves the lower end of arm 21inwardly and permits frame 5 to move upward under the force of spring 7and start the delivery of a' card. Arm 10 has a small projection 22,Fig. 1, which is caught by arm 21, pre

venting the rubber tired wheels 2 and 3 from comingin contact with thecards except when a ball is delivered. The latch 20 is released by thepin 23 inserted in cam 8 just prior'to the time the wheel 16 starts toforce another ball under-the arm 17.

A receiver 24 with four compartments, 25,

26, 27 and 28, is provided detachable from the rest, ofythe mechanism.When the machine is in use, however, it is inserted by slidin alongframe '29 until the lugs 30 and 31 fafi into the slots 32 and 33. -Thereceiver then rests on lever 34. The arm 35 is attached firmly to lever34 and is slidably mounted on the vertical arm of frame 29 and projectsover the cam 8. It is also attached to lever 18 by means of screw 36passing through slot 37. Slot 37 is arranged so arm 35 can be raised orlowered without interfering with lever 18. If

a ball has'been delivered, however, and lever 18 held in any of the fourpositions by latch 20, then arm 35 will be held by lever 18- and willnot be allowed to follow the cam 8 down. Asthe cam 8 is rotated, the arm35 raises the lever 34 which moves the receiver 24 in an arc in front ofthe rubber tired wheels 38, 39, 40 and 41: ALthe top of the arc thecompartment 28 of receiver 24 isslightl'y above the place where a cardwould be delivered by the rubber tired wheels 38 and 39. At the bottomof the arc 'the compartment 25 of receiver 24 will be slightly below theplace where a. card would be delivered by the rubber tired wheels 38 and39. The levers and the notches in, the end of lever 18 are so arranged,however, that lever 18 will stop the receiver 24 on its downward swingso that ,the compartment in the receiver corresponding tothe size of theball which raised lever 18 will be held in position to receive the card.

The rubber tired wheels 38 and 39 are mounted on shaft 6 and the rubbertired wheels 40 and 41 are mounted on another shaft immediately above insuch a position that a card forced out of container 1 comes ing theballs is on top. As themain shaft 6 is rotated by the hand crank, allthe rubber tired wheels are rotated as well as wheel 16 and cam 8. Theposition of the indentation in wheel 16 is located so the cam 8 hasraised the receiver 24 to the top of its arc and permitted the frame 5to, rise to a position where the rubber tired wheels 2 and 3 come incontact with the cards at the moment a ball is forced under arm 17. Theraising of lever 18 by the ball permits a card to be forced out by therubber tired wheels 2 and 3. The cam 8 18 so arranged that as soon asthe card has started between the rubber tired wheels 38, 39, 40 and 41,the frame 5 is drawn down, thus preventing the starting of another cardfrom container 1 until the cam 8 has completed its revolution. Lever 18has also been held in the position placed by the ball by latch 20. Thisholds arm from following the cam down and arm 35 holds lever 34 whichstops receiver 24 in its downward arc and holds it in a position toreceive the card in the compartment corresponding to the size of theball. The size of the rubber tired wheels 38, 39, and 41 is so arrangedthat they w ll deliver the card before the cam 8 starts raising thereceiver and before the pin23 releases the latch.. It will be apparentthat a card is delivered at each revolution of the shaft 6 and that thereceiver 24 will have been stopped in position to receive thirteen cardsin each compartment in fifty-two revolutions of shaft 6. The order inwhich it has stopped at the various compartments will, however, dependon the order in which the various sizes of halls are taken out by thewheel 16.,

It will thus be evident that in this machine the distribution ofsuccessive cards into the several compartments of the receiver 24 iscontrolled by the size of the particular ball selected or picked by thewheel 16 from the mass of balls in the upper hopper during the feedingof each card. Since this picking or choosing of the selectors for eachcard is made indiscriminately and is entirely a matter of random orchance, the sorting of the cards into the four compartments of thereceiver is made indiscriminately and is controlled simply by chance.The ,shufliing of the cards, therefore, occurs automatically in connecton with the dealing of them and a fair deal is always ensured. 1 I

A casing 42'is provided to cover the mechanism with a topsuitable forholding a score pad 43 for recording the results of the game.

. While I have herein shown and described one embodiment of myinvention, it will be evident that the invention may be embodied in agreat variety of other forms without departing from the spirit or scopethereof. For example, selectors of other constructions can be used.Also, the organization and arrangement of the elements of the machineecessarily will depend upon the nature 0 the articles which it handles,the requirements of the game in which such articles are to be used, andthe particular use to be made of the machine.

This application is a continuation, in part, of my copending applicationSerial No. 282,- 609 filed June 4, 1928.

What I claim is:

' 1. A device for shuflling objects comprising a container for a groupof objects, means for feeding the objects one by one from the container,a series of selectors differential with respect to each other, means forselecting said selectors indiscriminately and means controlled by saidselectors for variably delivering the objects according to thedifferential characteristics of the selectors.

2. A card shuffling device comprising a conselectors differing from eachother, means op- I erable to choose at random a selector for each cardso fed, and means for distributing the successive cards in accordancewith the characteristics of the respective selectors so chosen.

4. A card shufiling device comprising a container for a pack of cards, areceiver, means for feeding the cards one by one from the container, aseries of individual selectors differential with respect to each other,means for selecting and moving said selectors indiscriminately and meansoperated by the moving selectors for variably delivering said cards tothe receiver. i

5. A machine of the character described comprising a magazine forholding a pack of cards, mechanism for feeding the cards one at a timefrom said magazine, a series of selectors differing from each other,means for selecting said selectors indiscriminately during the feedingof successive cards, andmeans for sorting the cards according to. thedifferential characteristics of the selectors associated withlthefeeding of the respective cards.

'6. A machine .of the character described comprising a magazine forholding a pack of cards, mechanism for feeding the cards one at a timefrom said magazine, means for sorting the cards so fed, a series ofselectors ditfering from each other, and means for selecting saidselectors indiscriminately one at a time in connection with the feedingof successive cards and causing the selectors to control the sorting ofthe cards in accordance with the differential characteristics of theselectors.

7 A card shuffling device comprising a container for a pack of cards,means for feeding the cards one by one from the container, 9. series ofselectors arrangedin sets of different sizes, means for selecting andmoving said selectors indiscriminately and means operated by the movingselectors for variably deliveringsaid cards according to the sizes ofthe selectors.

8. A machine of the character described tors arranged in sets ofdifferent sizes, means balls for varia for selecting said selectorsindiscriminately one at atime in connection with the feeding ofsuccessive cards, and means for sorting said cards according to thesizes of the respective selectors used in feeding successive cards. I

9. A card shufiiing device comprising a container-for a pack of cards,means for feeding,

the cards one by one from the container, a series .of balls arranged insets of different sizes, means for selectin and moving said ballsindiscriminately and means operated by said balls for variablydelivering the cards according to the size of the balls.

10. A card shufiiing device comprising a container for a pack of cards,means for feeding the cards one by one from the container, a series offifty-two balls arranged in four sets of different sizes with thirteenballs in each set, means for selecting and moving said ballsindiscriminatelg and means operated by said ly delivering the cardsaccording to the size of the balls. 11. A card shufilin devicecomprising a container for a pack 0% cards, means for feeding the cardsone by one from the container, a series of selectors differential withrespect to each other, a receiver with the same number of compartmentsas there are sets of selectors with differential characteristics, meansfor selecting and moving said selectors indiscriminately and meansoperated by said selectors for delivering said cards to the compartmentsin the receiver according to the differential characteristics of theselectors.

12. A card shuflling device comprising a container for a pack of cards,means for feeding the cards one by one from'the container, a series of"selectors differential with respect to each other, means for selectingand moving said selectors indiscriminately,

means controlled by the moving selectors for starting the. delivery ofeach card from the container and means operated by the moving" selectorsfor variably delivering said cards according to the differentialcharacteristics of the selectors.

13. A card shuffling device. comprising a container for a pack of cards,means for feeding the cards one by'one from the centainer,'a series ofselectors differential with respect to each other, means for selectingand moving said selectors indiscriminately, a receiver .with the samenumber of compartments as there are sets of selectors withfdifierentialcharacteristics, means for moving said receiver in an are opposite theplace where the cards are delivered from the container and meansoperated by the moving selectors for stopping the receiver so the cardsare delivered tiethe various compartments according I ballsindiscriminately, means operated by said balls for variably deliveringsaid cards according to the size of the balls, means for guiding saidballs to the lower ball container after they have performed theirselective function and means for reversing the 'osition of the ballcontainers after all the balls have performed their selective function.

15. A cai'dshufiling device comprising a container for a pack of cards,means for feeding the cards one by onefrom the container,

a series of fifty-two balls arranged in sets of diiferentsizes, meansfor selecting and moving sald balls 'md scrimlnately, a receiver withthe same number of compartments as there are sets of balls of each sizeresting on a lever, means for raising and lowering said lever, latchmeans operated by said moving balls for holding said lever and receiverin various positions according to the size of the moving ball and meansfor releasing the latch after each card has been'delivered.

16. A card shufliin device comprising a container for a pack 0% cards,means for feeding the cards one by one from the container, a series offifty-two balls arranged in sets of different sizes, a container forsaid balls with an opening at the base, a wheel with an iderie tation inthe rim large enough to catch the largest ball arranged so the rimcloses the opening at the base of the ball container except for a spacelarge enough to permit the passage of the largest ball when resting inthe indentation in the rim, a lever placed at the opening of the ballcontainer to prevent the passage of more than one ball at eachrevolutlon of the wheel and means operated by said lever for yari'ablydelivering the cards according to the sizes of the balls 17 A cardshufliing and dealing devlce comprising a casing having a container fora'pack of cards, means for feeding the cards said balls for deliveringthe cards to the di ferent compartments according to the sizes of theballs.

18. A card shuffling device comprising a container for a pack of cardsconsisting of-a slanting base with narrow runners on which the cardsnormally rest, a front piece for holding the cards with fingers oppositeeach runner leaving spacefor only one card to pass through at a time, aweight placed-on top of said cards in the container with runnerscorresponding approximatel to the runners on the base, means for forcingout the bottom card of the deck placed in the container, a series ofselectors difl'erential with respect to each other, means for selectingand moving said selectors and means operated by said selectors forvariably delivering the cards according to the differentialcharacteristics] vof the selectors. ROBERT C. MOKAY.

